Rainbow Facility: A Rainbow Factory Alternative
by TrueBobJoe
Summary: If you've read the story "Rainbow Factory" by Aurora Dawn, this is an ending. This is a story of horror, fantasy, betrayal and heartbreak. The ponies have been replaced by flying people. There are no unicorns. It may be short, but there will be a sequel. Spark was sitting in her room on a Sunday, ready for her flying exam. Perhaps, she should have been a bit more prepared.


Rainbow Horror

Spark sat in her room and bounced a ball against the blue wall. "I'm so bored." She droned on and on to her friend Spike through her phone. "Can you believe we have school on _Sunday?_" complained Spike, "Just for exams, too!" "Well, it'll give me something to do." Spark replied. She fluttered her wings. "Where do you think humans got their wings from?" "That's pretty general," answered Spike, "Not all humans have wings. I wonder what school for groundies is like. It's probably horrible." "I can't imagine living anywhere but up in the clouds." Spark said. She looked at a poster of her favorite airball player, Dash. "Are you keeping up with sports this season? Dash is _so _cool! " "Yeah, his team is undefeated so far." said Spike coolly. "What I'd give to meet Dash…" Spark looked at her watch. "When do we have to go to our exams, again?" "Four." "That gives us two hours to kill." "Meet up at Airchester?" Spike proposed. "I'll go ask my parents." replied Spark. She dropped the phone and leapt off her bed and ran out of her room. "Mom? Dad?" She flew down the stairs and ran out of the door to the porch, where she found her parents sitting in cloud chairs. "Hey, mom," Spark asked, "can I go hang out with Spike over by Airchester?" "Don't you have exams soon?" her mother countered. "Yeah, but we'll be back in time! I promise." "Very well, then." Spark's mother sighed. Spark jumped for joy before heading back to her room. "She said yes!" exclaimed Spark. "Sweet," Spike's voice said through the phone, "I'll beat you there!" "That's what you think!" Spark clicked the end call button and put her cell phone into her jean pocket. She thrust open her window and jumped. To her surprise, her usual starting pedestal wasn't there. Spark plummeted downwards, crying out. She wasn't used to a falling start, but rather a jumping start. Her hands flailed in the air. She was beginning to see small groundy buildings forming beneath her. Spark opened her wings and swerved upwards. "Whoa!" She burst through a cloud, alerting many people walking down the cloud street. The crowd stared. "Heh…" Spark laughed awkwardly. "I'll just put this back…" She took the cloud bits from the air and patched the hole in the walkway. Life seemed to resume as normal. Spark extended her wings again and jumped. She soared south towards Airchester, though she anticipated that Spike had already beaten her. Airchester came into Spark's view. She accelerated and let the wind blow through her face as she whistled through the air like a bullet. There sat Spike in the middle of Airchester Town Square, lying on his back. Suddenly, Spark's left wing tensed and lost control. Her tender wing flapped uselessly in the wind. Losing balance, Spark turned on one side and began going down gradually, still speeding forward. She struggled to gain control. Spike watched as Spark plummeted into Airchester's main street and skidded to a stop against a candy store.

"Hey, Spark, you okay?" Spark rubbed her throbbing head as Spike turned to her. "I think so," Spark stood up and walked to Spike's side. "What happened?" asked Spike. Spark grabbed her sore wing. "My left wing is acting up again. You know how sometimes my wing stops flapping properly and it kind of withers in the wind?" Spark explained. "Yeah," Spike answered. "It's doing that again. I hate it when that happens. I think it's safe to that you won, though." Spike laughed. "Yep. What took you so long?" Spark hesitated. She didn't want to tell him about her missing perch. "I fell off of my platform," she lied, "I almost crash landed in a groundy building." "Well, you certainly took your time," Spike said, "Now we've only got half an hour to hang out!"

The two fliers spent most of their time in the Above Cloud Arcade and the Clear Cloud Candy Store. Soon they found themselves both lying across a bench on each other outside of Daring Dash High. "Do you think we'll do alright?" Spark asked. "Of course," replied Spike, brushing his black hair away from his face. Spark did the same with her orange hair. "All Daring Dash High students must report to the courtyard for their exams. Thank you." sounded a voice over the external speakers of the high school. "Let's go," said Spike, getting off the bench. He frowned. "Is your wing alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine," grunted Spark, "Come on, then. Let's just walk."

After ten minutes of silent walking, they reached the courtyard. They sat next to each other in the third row out of the five available in between a few people in alphabetical order, just as the teacher had instructed. They were almost the last fliers there. "Ladies and gentlemen," called their short, pudgy announcer, Split, "We gather here today for our flying exams. You will be called alphabetically by your last names," Split gestured to a line to his left. "If you are to fail, you will step into this line. If you pass, go to the right line. Our three judges will approve or disapprove of your flying. Your grade will be decided by two out of three approvals or disapprovals." "This doesn't sound good," Spark gulped. "It'll be okay," Spike assured her. "Hey!" a voice called from their left. A girl their age was sitting next to them. "Uh…hi." Spark said awkwardly. "My name is Dawn," the girl said. "What's yours?" "I'm Spike, and this is Spark." Spike introduced them, gesturing respectively. "Oh," Dawn said, "What do you think happens to the people who fail their exams?" "They probably just get held back or something," Spark answered. "Dawn Star!" called Split through a megaphone. "Wish me luck!" exclaimed dawn. Spark shot her two thumbs up. Spike mimicked her. They watched as Dawn stepped onto the starting pedestal. "She seems nice. I hope she does well," Spark remarked. "Worse, though, they're already on S?" asked Spike nervously, "I'm probably up soon… or next!" "Sh…" Spark responded calmly. "Let's just watch Dawn." "Go!" called Split. Dawn jumped and began to show her flight control as the first half of the test. She dove down towards the earth. Tears formed in her as she down faster and faster before swerving back into the courtyard. The short judge in the middle nodded, impressed. The other two showed bland expressions. "Alright, second phase!" Split's voice echoed across the testing field. "Go Dawn!" cheered Spark. Dawn smiled and flew into the ring test. "This is the last test, don't take it lightly!" cried Split. Dawn nodded at Split and threw herself forwards through the first ring and spread her wings wide. The judges smiled pleasantly as she flew across the land and glided through the hoops. Spark had never seen such amazing flying precision before. Suddenly, Dawn miscalculated her stroke and her wing collided with the right side of the third to last loop and she spun out of control. "No!" cried Spark. Dawn spiraled down beneath the clouds and didn't resurface for thirty seconds. The courtyard was shrouded in silence. Dawn soared from beneath a cloud and flew haphazardly through the last rings and crashed into finish. All three judges shook their heads. Spark frowned. "Final thoughts, judges?" asked Split, disappointed. Two of them disapproved, and the middle one nodded. "No!" cried Dawn. She sprinted into the left line and buried her face in her palms and began to sob quietly. "Spike Striker!" called Split. Spike stood and nodded as he approached the starting platform. "Go!" Spike's platform disintegrated beneath his feet. "What?" shouted Spike as he fell down. "Just go!" cried Split. "It's part of the test!" Spike failed his recovery and messed up his flight control session by doing so. As he approached the ring test, he nearly wrecked into the judges' stand. Needless to say, Spike stepped into the left line after his test. "Spark Taller!" announced Split. Spark stood up and prepared herself as she stepped on the beginning stand. "Go!" Spark jumped across the start line and zoomed through the stadium to the amazement of her peers. She flipped through the air with ease and she dove up and down as she progressed further across the testing field. As she approached the ring test, her left wing seared again. She began losing altitude but continued to advance at the same high speed. She crashed again into the ring test and began sloppily. She smashed one ring, surprisingly, and broke the strings to another. It plummeted down towards the groundy version of Airchester. She finished eventually and pulled the last five of the rings flawlessly. "I'm sorry, Spark," called Split, looking at the judges' reactions, "but you're going to the left line." "Okay…"

Soon all of the exams were finished, and a bus arrived at the left line. "In you go," said Split, patting the failures on the back as they piled into the vehicle. "I can't believe this happened," said Spark sadly. "I know," Dawn said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Where do you think we're going?" "They might as well kill us at this point," Spike said sadly.

They arrived at a dark place at nightfall that blended into the dark sky. Rainbows poured out of it into a cloud pool. The bus stopped and the doors opened up. The small trio and the six other students that had failed stepped out of the bus and walked into the Factory. There at a small podium was someone Spark recognized all too much… "Dash!" exclaimed Spark. "If this is what we get for failure, what happens to the people who pass?" "You'll probably be less than pleased as to what happens here," Dash said. His voice was surprisingly cold.

"What makes you think that?" asked Spark, "I've _always _wanted to meet you!" "What a shame," Dash replied, smiling in a way that a superstar athlete shouldn't have. Dash turned on the microphone on his podium as the failed students sat in their seats. "Welcome," he announced over the speakers, "For those who do not know me, I am Dash, your favorite airball player. But I also have a secondary job, which is working here." "What is this place? It's all dark and rough… it's nothing like a cloud!" called one of the students. "Well, yes," Dash said, "This is what groundies call 'iron.' It is a hard, impenetrable substance." "What do you think they need iron for?" Spike nudged Spark with his elbow. "Where is this?" asked Spark. "This is the Rainbow Factory," answered Dash, "As the title indicates, we create rainbows." "Why do we need rainbows?" asked another student. "Do they teach you _nothing _in school these days?" Dash sighed, "The fliers cause the weather for the groundies to have success in their farming and technology. In return, they give us food and technology. Many groundies enjoy seeing beautiful rainbows every so often. Does this make sense to you?" "I guess," mumbled Spark. "How are rainbows made?" asked Spike. "I'm glad you asked, young man," said Dash, "The groundies are under the impression that rainbows are caused by the refraction and reflection of water droplets. But unfortunately, a rainbow's tale is not as nice as we all think. It's quite easy to make, however, once you get the hang of the device we use." "So, why are we here?" Spark asked Dash. "Quite simple, miss," replied Dash, "We need you to make our rainbows." "You brought us here to make _rainbows _for the rest of our lives?" cried a student, "That's slave labor!" "No, no, please do calm yourself." Dash remarked evilly. "We make you _into _rainbows." "What's that supposed to mean?" shouted Spike angrily. "Well, since you're so keen to find out, why don't you be our example? Follow me, class."

"Here is our rainbow room. What is your name, sir?" Dash asked Spike. "Spike," he murmured in reply. "Well then, Spike, why don't you sit in that chair right over there?" Unwillingly, Spike obeyed Dash and walked to the small iron chair in the far corner of the room. Spark clenched her teeth. Dash walked over to the wall on the left and flipped a small red lever. The chair began to slide backwards, and machinery turned on behind him. Spark was horrified at what her friend was about to be subjected to.

There were fast turning gears, and they were all reinforced with sharp edges. There were needles poking and jabbing in front of this. Below all of this was a dark pit that had red stains on the cold, gray walls. "No!" Spark cried out as she watched her friend Spike tear into pieces. Dawn was bawling next to her. Spike's head rolled into the pit, shortly followed by his body. "Why are you doing this to us?" asked Spark, tears streaming down her red face. "We need your colors," Dash replied matter-of-factly, "Good to see such an assortment here, too." "You're a monster," said Spark angrily, "I had always thought better of you." "Oh, well," Dash said. "Let me lead you young children to your bunks. Tomorrow will be… Spike's little friend." "No," Spark said, "I won't be subjected to this. I'll find my way out of here." "Yeah, good luck with that. You can't fly through this iron as you can clouds," Dash said coldly. "Good night to you!"

Spark lied in her cold, damp bed in wait for her inevitable death in the morning. She couldn't sleep at all. The image of Spike's crushed and mangled body simmered in her mind as hot as the sun through the window of the rainbow room. Sometimes living up in the clouds weren't so fun. Did groundies die for failing their high school exams, too? "Why?" Spark whispered to herself repeatedly. It was almost the only word she had uttered all night. An idea struck her as she dropped her head against her hard pillow. The window in the rainbow room. Had this been a detail they had overlooked? Spark convinced herself that in the morning, when it was her time, she would escape through the windows.

"Spark Taller, please step up," called Dash. Spark buried her face in the chair. Soon, she would put her plan into action. Spark stood up and turned to Dash, glancing up at the window. "Sit down in the chair, and then let the switch do the work." Dash smiled evilly. Spark approached the chair slowly, Dash following in her footsteps. Just before she reached the chair, she spoke one word. "No." Spark quickly turned and lashed out with her foot. Dash was caught off guard and sprawled out across the ground. The students cheered. Dash sat up and yelled, "Guards! Seize her!" It was too late. The students were all in a rebellion, lashing out with their wings and fists. Spark flew up, landed on the window and perched herself carefully. But the battle seemed to be lost. As Spark observed the battle scene, she saw that two students were dead, speared through the chest. One student was still in combat with a guard, but his attacks were getting more and more feeble. Two other students had been handcuffed and beaten, and Dawn was running away, two guards in close pursuit. Surely she couldn't leave her peers? Dash flew out of nowhere and collided into Spark, who crashed against the hard floor, Dash on top of her. He unrelentingly released a combo of punches and head bangs into Spark, who felt like passing out. Dash reached for a spear from the guards and Spark shut her eyes. She was surprised and relieved when Dash's body weight flew off of her. Dawn had saved her. Spark thought quickly and flew back up into the window, where she witnessed Dawn fighting Dash and two guards. "Come on!" cried Spark, reaching down with her hand. "Go!" screamed Dawn as Dash knocked her down and cuffed her across the back of the head. "You'll have to tell everyone about this place! Don't forget me!" Spark shook her head and tears fell from her eyes. She crashed through the window and felt the glass shards stab into her chest and face as she closed her eyes and began to fly home, ready to tell all about the horror of modern rainbows.


End file.
